I don’t know why im even bothering to write about a presidential candidate whose chances of winning the 2010 presidential polls are NONE and NIL. But, Gilbert Teodoro seems to be attracting a good number of young people, mostly college students from reputable schools to vote for him, or at least, consider him the best candidate for the job of CEO of this republic. If only for that, i gave in to the temptation to write about the man.
To say that I AM SURPRISED by this support for Gibo from the supposedly “hope and future of this nation”, is an understatement. As far as im concerned, a more apt description would be, I AM DISMAYED at their lack of depth, lack of shrewdness, and lack of discernment as evidenced by this glaring display of poor judgement. I would have been elated had they chosen to display their idealism and thrown their support for Nicanor Perlas or even JC de los Reyes because my perception of these 2 candidates is that they are men of strong principles, even if they also need to do some reality check of their own(do they really believe they have a chance at all?).
YES, on paper, Gilbert Teodoro’s credentials are impressive. Does that mean that the others are dumb, stupid or incompetent?
Cant’ the young people of today see beyond the image that the candidate himself wants to project? Is his supposed academic achievements more important than his character? Does Gibo’s TOTAL lack of commitment in prosecuting his president and her cohorts, in making them accountable of their crimes against the Filipino people, is that ACCEPTABLE to the “learned” youth of the Philippines? Do they not even care that his benefactor of so many years and whose interest he has forwarded and supported is none other than Marcos’ number one crony and his uncle Danding Cojuanco. Was’nt his entire political career until only a few months ago is with his uncles’ NPC, whose members are mostly the second or third generation Marcos men? Does it not bother them that the clowns behind his candidacy are the same clowns that made a mockery of our national institutions by repeatedly, blindly and brazenly supporting and conniving with his president? yes kids, Gloria’s cohorts and the clowns im referring to are one and the same, they are your honorable members of the House of Representathieves and your local government officials, all members of the Lakas-Kampi political party which Gibo is proud to be affiliated with. If all that is just cool with you kids, then, huhu…sniff…sniff…For me, a person’s character is defined by the company he keeps, plain and simple. The saying "Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are", is still relevant and true to this day.
In 1965, a politician who was often described as having a brilliant mind and a leader with a vision and who incidentally is also a Bar topnotcher, became the president of this country. Twenty years after, he was booted out of his office in disgrace that left our nation deeply divided, our national treasury depleted and our public servants in moral decay. They say, our young people have no sense of history, sadly, that impression is not entirely baseless. Could the reason be because today's youth never knew how life was when Marcos was in power? Have they taken democracy for granted because they never knew its opposite, dictatorship and/or authoritarianism? HISTORY HAS THE TENDENCY TO REPEAT ITSELF UNTIL WE HAVE LEARNED ITS LESSONS.
“Galing at Talino” is not synonymous to good leadership. Good leadership is first and foremost about good character.
At this point in our country's history when our institutions are still weak, TRUST is still an important factor in choosing our leaders, trust in our leader's good character. Our frustration and anger over how our public servants are leading our nation has little to do with the candidates’ platform of government or an intellectual plan of governance, it has everything to do with honesty, transparency and accountability. Each of these candidates can promise us the heavens, BUT, we all know that in Philippine politics…TALK is simply…CHEAP.
